‘No one’s seeing it’: Recruiter explains why tailoring every résumé may be a waste of time

SINGAPORE: Time and time again, job seekers have been told that to stand out in the competitive job market, they should, as much as possible, customise their résumés.

However, former recruiter-turned-content creator Emily Durham disagrees with that advice, arguing that a “one-size-fits-all” résumé approach is actually enough.

She told Business Insider that tailoring a résumé for every application is, in fact, a bad idea.

“I would never customise my résumé for every job I’m applying to,” she said. “I think it’s incredibly dated advice, and it solves the wrong problem. The problem today is that no one’s seeing it. You spend all this time on the ‘perfect piece of paper,’ and Susie from HR won’t be reading it.”

According to Durham, the reason is fairly simple. Many job seekers are now using AI to generate their résumés, making it harder for applications to stand out.

“You think it’s standing out, but it’s not. Recruiters can tell your résumé has been touched by AI.”

“You would also never catch me dead doing or recommending high-volume AI applications. The day I use an AI scraper to apply for 1,000 jobs a day, I’ll be sick.”

Jeremy Schifeling, the founder of The Job Insiders, agrees with this view. 

In a CNBC article, he explained that résumés generated by AI are “massively generic” and put in lots of “stuff” that lacks “specificity.” 

Other times, these résumés even have “unbelievable” experiences listed on them, which, unsurprisingly, makes the hiring manager think that the job candidates didn’t write it themselves.

“As a hiring manager, the first thing I’m always looking for is evidence of specific accomplishments,” Schifeling said. 

“Having AI generate your résumé from scratch can be a fast track to rejection.”

Create one solid résumé

Instead of painstakingly tailoring your résumé to fit each job description, Durham recommends creating “one solid résumé.”

According to her, the one you wrote yourself will “stand out” so much more than the “cookie-cutter, perfect résumé that reads like all of the other applicants.”

To do this, Durnham advises that you first take a look at the positions you genuinely desire at your ideal organisation and examine the job descriptions and the “recurring” words. 

Pay attention to the necessary technical skills and tasks you’ll need to handle. Next, compare it with two or more job descriptions to see how many of those terms repeat.

“That’s usually a good indicator of your keywords. If you’re feeling super stuck or overwhelmed, you can also ask AI to validate the keywords you found,” she continued.

Once you’ve confirmed these keywords, incorporate them into your résumé. For instance, instead of writing, “I worked with spreadsheets,” you can write, “I analysed data.”

What if you’re still unsure?

If, however, you’re still unsure whether the one you wrote will immediately capture the employer’s or hiring manager’s attention (and I say immediate because they only spend, on average, 7.4 seconds to look at résumés), Schifeling recommends polishing it with AI.

Simply paste your résumé and the job description into an AI tool and ask: “Which keywords from the job description are missing from my résumé?” You can then follow up with: “Suggest three ways to incorporate [keyword] into my résumé.”

For the achievements section, try asking: “Suggest three ways to make my accomplishments more measurable and results-driven.”

After enlisting AI’s help, proofread your résumé and make sure everything is accurate.

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